On Monday, Pack 51 got the news that Ray Morrison, owner of Ray's Auto Parts, had spotted the floating payload some 40 miles away from New Bedford, retrieving and returning intact the radio trackers, cameras and the malfunctioning GPS units to a delighted Cote, who'd already considered them lost.

"I've been involved in 20 of these launches," Cote said. "I've never lost one of these before."

Morrison's calculations were based on the GPS coordinates of where it hit the water, and the direction it floated over the 12 hours before its batteries died. He doubled that distance, marked his map and took the day off from work, setting out at 4 a.m. Monday to the fishing area called "the hook," some 20 miles southwest of Martha's Vineyard.

The estimation was accurate — as it ought to be for a man who says he's spent his life on the water. Morrison and his buddies found the bobbing Styrofoam boxes, wrapped in foil, a mile from the marked spot.

"It was flashing like a windshield off of another boat," said Morrison from behind the counter of his auto parts store Tuesday, after giving Cote the gear.